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Graham Smith

@graham-oh.bsky.social
339 followers 168 following 16 posts

Professor of Oral History. UCU member.

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Reposted by Graham Smith
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This petition needs as many signatories as the Exeter one. Please sign and share — don’t let Hertfordshire managers get away with this just because a Russell Group one took the spotlight. #UKHE
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Laura Tisdall @lauratisdall.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
We have an 18-month temporary lectureship in early modern British and European history just advertised at Newcastle - closing date 9th July www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRW166/l... #skystorians
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Early Modern British and European History at Newcastle University
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer in Early Modern British and European History on jobs.ac.uk!
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Rev. Dr. Liz Gloyn @lizgloyn.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Royal Holloway UCU stands in absolute solidarity with Exeter UCU.
royalhollowayucu.org
RHUL UCU stands in absolute solidarity with Exeter UCU
We unequivocally condemn the announcement of large-scale redundancies and restructuring at the University of Exeter. It is unacceptable that staff are being made to pay the price for years of poor …
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Rev. Dr. Liz Gloyn @lizgloyn.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
There's a template letter that folks might like to use to the President. Adapt at will.
docs.google.com
Template e-mail to support Exeter colleagues against redundancies
To: president @ exeter.ac.uk [remove spaces] Subject: Opposition to compulsory redundancies at Exeter Dear Professor Roberts, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the recently announced r...
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Ben Phillips @benphillips1989.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.
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Jason A. Higgins, Ph.D @jasonhiggins.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
#NewPublicationAlert Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice is a peer-reviewed, digital humanities project published by Virginia Tech Publishing and Press, based on oral histories with veterans. dissidents.vt.domains/veterans
Dissidents: Veterans Speak Out for Justice, an oral history collection by Jason A. Higgins, photo of Wall of Vets Protest in Portland, during the summer of 2020 after the murders of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, by Dave Killen, The Oregonian.
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University of Hertfordshire UCU @uhertfordshireucu.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
On Friday afternoon before the Bank Holiday, colleagues in the Humanities department were called to a meeting on Tuesday. They were informed that the University Portfolio Review had decided that English Language, English Literature, Philosophy, History & Creative Writing UG degrees would close
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
LSE. L!S!E! is now on the list as well 🫣 Any time, literally any time you can be bothered to acknowledge your responsibility, @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social. Because the future will absolutely recognise your responsibility in letting the #UKHE sector go under, and so much else in its wake.
qmucu.org
UK HE shrinking
a live page of all the redundancies and restructures happening across UK Higher Education. Page is updated regularly.
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Katherine Mackinnon @kamack.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Few spaces left on this new tour today and Friday. Finally the weather is looking quite decent!! As always give me a shout for free tickets as radical history is for everyone ☀️ www.eventbrite.com/e/migrants-m...
eventbrite.com
Migrants Made Glasgow
Walking through the radical histories and present-day struggles of the city of Glasgow
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Northumbria UCU Branch @ucunorthumbria.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
@georgeclarke.bsky.social UCU - 10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery" www.ucu.org.uk/article/14401
ucu.org.uk
10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension "robbery"
Northumbria University will be hit with ten days of strike action from Thursday 12 February in a fight to save staff pensions, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today
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Graham Smith @graham-oh.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
The good news is that #ucu is in great shape at branch levels. But we need to rebuild the union nationally. If you're a member please vote.
Vote for Regina, Sean Matt, Loes, Suzy, Christina, Simon, Cecila, Donna, Bee, Marion, Deepa, Grant, Rhian, and Lesley in the UCU NEC elections.
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Joe Redmayne @joeredmayne.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research, 7-8 May 2026 @newcastleuni.bsky.social Deadline: 6 February 2026 More details: @sslh.bsky.social sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c... sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u... Kindly supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk #GeneralStrike1926 #GeneralStrike100
sslh.org.uk
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research
To commemorate the centenary of the British General Strike and miners’ lock-out, Newcastle University’s Labour & Society Research Group (LSRG) is organising a conference that revisits the…
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Kristin Hussey @kristinhussey.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Colleagues doing very cool things! One for the labour, maritime and mining historians among you.
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Graham Smith @graham-oh.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
There are more people in Newcastle waiting for Greggs to open of a morning than weird UKIP managed to get on Saturday's sad shambles.
A bedraggled group of inadequate fascists wander through Newcastle with crosses and banners. Before being met by thousands of ordinary citizens who said they were not welcome.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
What has Yvette Cooper’s proscription of Palestine Action done to this country? Beyond absurd. It’s extreme authoritarianism. These police should be arresting rapists & crooks, not neglecting those duties to spend time arresting citizens standing against genocide. It undermines police and the law.
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Wendy Ugolini @wugolini.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
My book, 'Wales in England 1914-1945. A Social, Cultural, & Military History', is currently available at a more affordable price (✨️58% off✨️). How ideas of Wales and Welshness influenced two generations of English soldiers & writers: www.amazon.co.uk/Wales-Englan...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Scottish NSS results: 'Overall satisfaction in Scotland for 2025 was 80.7%, up from 78.1% in 2024. Satisfaction levels began to decline in 2020, when the overall rate in Scotland was 85%.'
heraldscotland.com
University satisfaction rising but still trails pre-Covid level
Data from the National Student Survey suggests that Scottish universities are continuing to recover from a falloff in satisfaction in 2020.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Interesting bit of research from @ersatzben.bsky.social suggesting QR funding is really critical for supporting interdisciplinary research johnsonb.substack.com/p/what-actua...
johnsonb.substack.com
What Actually Counts as Interdisciplinary Research?
A data-driven look at which funders support knowledge integration
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rs21 Edinburgh @rs21edinburgh.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Edinburgh University want to impose £140m in cuts as part of their "more students, fewer staff" policy. Edinburgh staff and students say "an end to unethical university governance"
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Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Come help our friends in the (slightly further) North!
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Liz Morrish @lizmorrish.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Newcastle University goes from 'Raising the Bar' to a doom loop of redundancies, course closures and failure. It's hard to see any future for UK HE except as a narrowly-focussed credentialling arm of the tech sector.
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Martin McGrath @martinmcgrath.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
The question is: Why (unless you're a schill for one of the big AI corps) you would advocate a UK industrial policy that slits the throat of its cultural industries (where it has an established global advantage) in favour of the AI sector where completion is intense and gains speculative (at best)
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Gareth Millward @millieqed.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
I'll be going through the process of making this open access, but for those who do have permissions through their libraries - this came out today. Some thoughts on the history of disability benefits and where UBI sits in that lineage. 🗃️ bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com
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Migration Museum @migrationmuseum.org · 14/05/2025
Are you working in museum collections, digital storytelling, or projects featuring migration history? Join us for the first event in the Migration Network series, focused on how digital tools are being used to document and share migration stories through collections work.
A panel of five diverse speakers sit on a small stage in front of an audience at the Migration Museum. One speaker on the far right is holding a microphone and speaking, gesturing with his hand. The other panelists are listening attentively. The background features historical black-and-white photographs and a blue wall with the words "MIGRATION MUSEUM" in white text. The audience is seated facing the panel.
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Grant Buttars @gbuttars.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
I stand by this. Solidarity with fellow workers is the first principle of trade unionism. An injury to one is an injury to all. reclaimucu.wordpress.com/2025/04/30/s...
reclaimucu.wordpress.com
Statement on NEC Meeting of 2 May 2025
On Friday, members of Unite UCU will be taking the final day of an unprecedented six weeks of industrial action. It is also the penultimate NEC meeting before Congress. One of the core principles o…
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Een vote amongst staff shows trust in the current leadership is incredible low.
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Grant Buttars @gbuttars.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Fight for every job! @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
heraldscotland.com
University of Edinburgh staff balloted on strike action over £140 million budget cuts
Staff at the University of Edinburgh are being balloted on industrial action in a dispute over the university’s plans to slash £140 million from…
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Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
The results are IN for our industrial action ballot! On a 64.0% turnout (our highest ever confirmed %age), 72.2% of voters said they were prepared to strike, with 81.2% prepared to engage in action short of strike. So what's next? Well. The employer knows where to find us. Time for a chat, perhaps?
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Cardiff UCU @cardiffucu.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
“This is an insult to the 1400 academic staff still at risk of redundancy." nation.cymru/news/vice-ch...
nation.cymru
Vice Chancellor wants to avoid Senedd scrutiny on massive cuts programme
Martin Shipton Former Education Minister Leighton Andrews has accused Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor of seeking to delay an appearance before the Senedd’s Education Committee until after final d...
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Monday morning we continue to show our management we don’t accept their approach. Why would we trust them to get us out of this when they are the ones who got us in this? Join your pickets 8 to 11 am. Check your email or section WhatsApp for section days.
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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy. "Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
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UEA UCU says join a union @uea-ucu.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
📣REMINDER FOR UEA UCU MEMBERS! 📣Our industrial action will begin with a day of strike action on Wednesday 26th March. 📣We will commence continuous action short of a strike (ASOS) from this date. 📣Further details to follow. #SaveUEA #UKHE
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Voice of Witness (VOW) @voiceofwitness.org · 12/03/2025
📢 Exciting news: Voice of Witness is looking for dedicated individuals to join our Board of Directors and contribute to our impact. Interested in supporting community-based storytelling, oral history, and education for justice? #Nonprofit #NonprofitBoard #BoardofDirectors #NonprofitLeadership
Graphic shares an open call for new board of director members
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
MASSIVE Solidarity
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Rob Hawkes @robbhawkes.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
moneyontheleft.org/2025/01/16/u...
moneyontheleft.org
UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance
by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
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Gwyn McClelland @gwynjapan.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Is anyone interested in reviewing Emotional Labour in Oral History Research: The Hidden Toll by Jennifer Harding and Verusca Calabria for our journal 'Studies in Oral History'? feel free to send me a PM if so! #oralhistory @ohcollective.bsky.social @oralhistoryvic.bsky.social
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Oral History Collective at Newcastle University @ohcollective.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
The UK’s children’s social care system has long faced challenges—from rising demand to quality concerns. 🔎Caring Communities: Rethinking Children’s Social Care explores its history to shape the future 📖 Read more: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history... #SocialCare #HistoryOfCare #OralHistory
blogs.ncl.ac.uk
Oral Histories of Care: Caring Communities | The Lug
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Rhiannon Lockley (she/her) @illdoitanyway.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
A weekend read! Union democracy is key to our future as UCU. Following on from the VP hustings this week, I have set out some key issues. rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com/2025/02/08/d...
rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com
Democracy in UCU: hustings, problems, and doing the work to build
As UCU members fill in their ballot papers for this year’s cycle of NEC, trustee and officer elections, debate has come round, as it does, to the matter of union democracy. This week, husting…
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Michael Carley @drmcarley.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Analysis like this is the reason you should vote for Rhiannon.
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Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
In our recent ballot three quarters of our members support strike action and over 90% are in favour of Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). Our members have voted for three weeks of strike action, starting on 24th February, with ASOS beginning Thursday 20th February until such time action ends.
Members of Dundee UCU standing outside the Tower Building, University of Dundee.
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Alec Edworthy @alecedworthy.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
I've just posted my ballot #UCU. Our HE branches are fighting for our lives. Alone we crumble, united we’re strong. Please vote for @illdoitanyway.bsky.social & for left/independent candidates. We need leadership prepared to uphold democracy, to organise, & who believe in collectivity as strength.
A gloved hand posting a C6 envelope into a red post box
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Graham Smith @graham-oh.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Useful guide from unions21.org for FTOs: "Our research suggests that while national and sectoral bargaining may give wider coverage, bargaining at the enterprise level gives members a higher level of engagement and a better sense of ownership over the bargaining processes."
unions21.org
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 05/02/2025
'The deep cultural cost of British university job cuts" bit.ly/4gnDCuE An excellent letter, in today's @theguardian.com, by the co-chairs of @artsandhums.bsky.social, a collective of subject specialist organisations representing and advocating for arts & humanities subjects in UK HE. #skystorians
bit.ly
The deep cultural cost of British university job cuts | Letters
Letters: Arts and humanities are being hit hardest by cuts in higher education, write Prof Thea Pitman and Prof Emma Cayley, and Dr Ronan McLaverty-Head and another letter writer comment on cuts at Ca...
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Oh, yes, we know this is not what is going to save Higher Education. See ALL of our other posts, and for example this open letter docs.google.com/document/d/e...
docs.google.com
Open Letter: Save Higher Education – A Call for Urgent Action Higher Education is in Crisis
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
"This is not an isolated problem. It is a nationwide crisis." Thank you for taking the initiative on this letter, @newcastleucu.bsky.social! And an excellent letter it is too, clear and referenced. Please everyone who cares about higher education and research, co-sign. #UKHE
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Steph Mulrine @stephmulrine.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
The crisis in Higher Education is biting hard. Thousands are at risk of losing their jobs across the sector. Please sign and share this open letter calling on the Secretary of State for Education to act.
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
docs.google.com/document/d/e... Sign our Open Letter to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, and Sunderland MP
docs.google.com
Open Letter: Save Higher Education – A Call for Urgent Action Higher Education is in Crisis
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Graham Smith @graham-oh.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
If you are a @ucu member and want to stand for NEC, my top tip is not to publicly attack a branch under threat of redundancies by willfully misrepresenting their strategy and smearing their reps.
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